History Film / Chupa

* GutturalGrowler: Richard Quinn (He 'is' played by Creator/ChristianSlater, after all).

--> ''Son of a...''

* PoorCommunicationKills: Chana and his grandchildren's hostility towards Dr. Quinn could have been avoided if the man hadn't been so vague with his intentions of wanting Chupa.

--> ''Just remember, that wherever you are, I will always be by your side''

** Chupa's family come in to attack Quinn's car, giving Chava a chance to force him to let Chupa go.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Chava gives one to Alex during their wrestling match in order to get him to accept his father's death. It later becomes a NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech
--> Every time your dad gets bought up, you retreat and hide in that stupid game of yours. Face your pain, face your fears and your sorrow. You have to feel the pain of sadness.

* ThemeMusicPowerUp / TriumphantReprise: A heroic version of the films main theme plays when [[spoiler: Chupa saves Alex from falling to his death]].

* UncertainDoom / [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened to Doctor Quinn?]]:: It is not shown what happens to Quinn after [[spoiler: Chava knocks him out with a suplex]], whether or not he was arrested for breaking and entering or spent the rest of his life in destitution for failing to bring Chupa to the government is left as an exercise for the viewer.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Who need Alex's schoolmate who tries to take his GameBoy?

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Quinn, while he is trying to capture Chupa, is only doing so to use his blood for medicinal purposes. [[spoiler:He later falls into NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist when it's implied he also wants to capture the creature to prove its existence).

** Alex, Luna and Memo all have one when Chupa is captured by Quinn.

* UncertainDoom: It is not shown what happens to Quinn after [[spoiler: Chava knocks him out with a suplex]], although it can be assumed he was arrested for his crimes.

The film opens in a disused mine, where agents of the Mexican government are seeking the rumored chupacabra. They come across a chupacabra cub and its angry mother, who grabs her cub and escapes, sustaining fatal injuries in the process. Knowing she will die soon, she leaves the cub in a bush and sacrifices herself to lure the agents away.

A country away, the teenager Alejandro struggles with other kids' racism and the recent death of his father. He isn't enthusiastic about his upcoming trip to Mexico, but when he crosses paths with an orphaned chupacabra cub, he finds that the country- and the world- is more wondrous than he thought. Unfortunately, Alejandro's family are not the only people interested in the cub...

* ButNowIMustGo: Subverted then played straight. Chupa leaves to go to his family, but comes back when he realises Alex is in trouble. He leaves for real afterwards after being saved from Quinn.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Chava, while he may be a polite old man, is also a retire luchador.

* CharacterTitle: The films title comes from the name Alex gives to the young chupacabra cub he finds and befriends.

** Chupa's flying ability comes in very handy when he's rescuing alex from falling to his death.
** Chava's skills as a retired Luchador also help him rescue Chupa from Quinn.
* {{Chupacabra}}: Chupa and his family are all chupacabras (and are probably one of the few heroic depictions in media).

* DecoyProtagonist: Chupa may be the title character, but the film primarily centers around Alex and his family

* ForScience: Quinn's motive for capturing Chupa is to find out if he blood really ''does'' have medicinal properties, and also to prove the creature's existence.

* HeroicSacrifice: Chupa's mother pulls one at the start to save her cub, leading Quinn's men away after hiding her cub in some vegetation. [[spoiler: Subverted at the end when it's revealed she survived]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: Alex's family has soft music box theme that plays throughout the film.

* NonMaliciousMonster: Chupa and his family, while they may be a family of chupacabras kill livestock (albeit mostly offscreen), they're just wild predators trying to survive in their environment and are shown to cause harm to humans (except in the defence of either themselves or their young).
* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: A seller at the market says this of the Chupacabras when Alex picks up a figurine of one. As it turns out, he's right.

** Alex gets one when a mountain lion tries to attack him, and then another one a few minutes after when the pipe he is walking on to get away from the cougar starts collapsing beneath him. Chupa himself also gets one in the same scene when he realises Alex is in danger.
** Quinn has one towards the end when his car gets attacked by three fully grown chupacabras.

* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler: Chupa, when rescuing Alex from falling to his death, finally learns how to fly and uses this to get the both of them up to the top of the cliff]].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Quinn, while he is trying to capture Chupa, is only doing so to use his blood for medicinal purposes. [[spoiler: he later falls into NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist when it's implied he also wants to capture the creature to prove its existence).